PULMONATA. 67 
No. 20. HeLIx LAByRINTAICA. Say. Tab. X, fig. 7a—e. 
Hewrx Lapyrintuica. Say. Journ. Acad. Nat. Se. Philadelphia, vol. 1, p. 124. 
— — Nicholson's Encycl. (Amer. Edit.), 4. 
= — Férussac. Hist. Natur. des Moll., tab. lis, fig. 1; Prodromus, 
No. iil. 
oe = Binney. Boston Journal Nat. Hist., vol. iii, tab. xxiv, fig. 1. 
— — Gould’s Report of the Inverteb. of Massachus., p. 184. 
— wasyrinturcus. S. Wood. Lond. Geol. Journ., vol. i, p. 118. 
H.. testa minima, globoso-conicd, transversim lineatd, umbilicatd ; lineis obliquis, undosis, 
numerosis ; spird plus minusve elevatd, sexies circumvolutd ; anfractibus convewis ad basin 
sub-planulatis : apertura depresso-semilunari, peristomate reflexo : margine columellart uno 
dente lamelliformi instructo : umbilico magno, profundo. 
This pretty and very rare Helix is a small, roundedly-conical shell, with a more 
or less elevated spire, composed of about six gradually increasing whorls, separated 
by a clearly defined suture, and ornamented with numerous, elevated, obliquely trans- 
verse, equidistant, raised lines, more or less prominent in different individuals. These 
lines are somewhat acute, slightly undulated, and, running into the umbilicus, cover 
the whole surface of the whorls. The base of the shell is but slightly convex; the 
aperture of a depressed semilunar shape, with the peristome reflected. The columella 
lip presents a large lamelliform tooth, prolonged within the aperture, and running 
parallel with the suture. The umbilicus is deep and wide, being about one third of 
the diameter. In one specimen in my cabinet, the spire is very much depressed, 
almost planorbular, and the apex more obtuse. 
This species derives additional interest from the fact that, having survived through 
the inconceivably long spaces of time required for the deposit of the Miocene and the 
more recent formations, and having become extinct in the hemisphere in which it first 
appeared, it is now found among the living forms of North America. The recent //e/ix 
labyrinthica, first described by Say, is spread over a wide range of country, extending 
from Ohio to Florida, and from Missouri to Texas. Specimens from Texas, Ohio, and 
Florida are preserved in the British Museum; and, after a careful comparison with 
them of the fossil shells, it appears to me that differences of sufficient importance for 
specific distinction cannot be detected between them; I therefore fully concur with 
Mr. 8. Wood in the opinion expressed by him of their specific identity, and I do not 
hesitate to refer the fossil shell to Say’s species. 
In order to facilitate an examination into this identity, it will be useful to give 
Say’s description in his own words. It is as follows: ‘Shell conic, dark reddish- 
brown; body lighter; whorls five or six, with conspicuous, elevated, equidistant, 
obtuse lines across, forming grooves between them; apex obtuse; lip reflected, 
